


Necessary Upgrade

by lpstribling



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Cosmodrome, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 04:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6224392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lpstribling/pseuds/lpstribling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lone warlock makes a narrow escape with the help of two unfamiliar guardians. Before another wave of enemies rolls through, the warlock has to make a choice. Join the duo or stay to fend for herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Necessary Upgrade

    Quiet in her perch upon an unlighted roof corner high above the barren grounds of the Cosmodrome, Nga’am the Warlock looked through the long scope of her rifle. The shadowy bodies of the Taken minions popped in and out of her crystal clear view as she steadied her breath.

  
    “God, you’re ugly,” she whispered. She broke her aim and dislodged the clip in the gun before loading a fresh one. “Lucky for you,” she continued to herself. She chambered the long titanium round and clicked off the safety, “there’s a cure.” Again she aimed and held her breath when a giant dull grey and black head of a Taken Knight drifted into the center of her scope. Nga’am squeezed the trigger and felt the smooth kick of her rifle as she watched the head within view shatter into dust and ichor, and finally disappear in its own inter dimensional vortex.  
    “There we are,” she exhaled, looking up from the scope. “All better.”  
The gathering of shadows in the area startled and, within seconds, began to launch their own fire - pulsating rocket bolts, thrown in spurts of three, each pounding at the walls around her crouched nest in hopes of ferreting her out.  
    “There you go again,” she said, shouldering her rifle and leaping back onto the abandoned rooftop. “Always have to get all pissy when your friends get sniped.” She quickstepped out of view to the backside of the building and dropped in levels to the ground. Things were quieter on this side, and she smirked at still being able to hear could the nice mix of screams and rockets from the Taken on the backside.  
    Nga’am walked to one area of the wall where she found the stack of dead branches and tumbleweeds she used to conceal the room and, one by one, began to throw each piece of the blockade away from the doorway. She was still ahead of them, but they weren’t human; she knew she didn’t have all day to get out of the area.  
Her sparrow was just as she had parked it that morning. Had she been out hunting that long? She considered the thought as she turned the air bike around and walked it to the doorway. She mounted the dusty frame and hovered there just as she saw three black orbs rolling toward her upon the dusty dry ground of midday from several hundred meters out. As they rolled, they grew with size and color. There were glassy streaks and curls of black dust and smoke. Each orb carried its own otherworldly yell as it expanded and sped toward her.  
    “Aww,” she said, “my fan club.” She lifted a hand from the throttle and placed it over her heart. “Can’t stay, sadly. Another time?” She blew them a kiss and leaned in, slamming the throttle to full.

  
    The fist-sized afterburners of the sparrow’s engines flared hot and then began to sputter. “No, no, c’mon honey. Not now.” The small craft began to shake before the engine whined to a halt and the craft lowered to the ground.  
“Shit. I need an upgrade.”  
Nga’am looked up. How much time she had before they were on her? But there was no time to give the thought just time as one of the black orbs slammed into her, and the world around her drummed into darkness.  
Three towering figures stomped toward her - the heads of each twitched and jerked. Each carried thick heavy blades of rock. Behind them, their wakes teemed with the throngs of Shadow Thrall - their thin swift bodies and venomous screeches ripping at her ears.  
    Two of the giants came into reach first, raised their stone blades, and dropped them upon her just as she fell from the craft out of the way. The weapons smashed into the metal and the lightweight bike shattered, its engine and seat thumped to the ground and dust jumped into the air. Small bits of the body’s detritus sailed in every direction.

  
The darkness continued to come at her.

  
    The warlock squirmed on the ground, the red leather of her gauntlets searching for some corporeal idea of safety. With quick lucidity, Nga’am flipped onto her back and tossed a purple glowing ball into the air toward the giants upon her and the ghostly army at their backs. The ball hung between their heads before it burst into a miniature blaze, blinding the entirety of the Darkness. In the flash, they staggered backward and roared, losing their balance, their focus, their victory.  
The burst was enough to buy her time. Nga’am recovered her feet underneath her as well as the smooth barrel of her auto rifle. Just as she brought it up to fire, the Dark swarm about her began to fall under a rain of fire.

    The three giant forms of the Taken Lieutenants lost their footing as a spray of bullets darted across their collective bodies. Two rocket blasts behind them sent dozens of the black Thrall bodies into screams of swift vapor. When the warlock turned her head to see where it was coming from. Two figures stood high upon the rooftop behind her. One a tall white-cloaked hunter, the other a husky Titan holding the smoking barrel of a large rocket launcher. In a quick moment, as the hunter continued to rain fire upon the Dark below, Nga’an saw the Titan lower her weapon and wave to her wildly as though they were old friends who had not seen each other in years. The Titan turned back to the plagued ground threatening the warlock and again fired another rocket. This sent another flurry of impish souls back into the Void.  
    With that, the minions of the Dark retreated and Nga’am was left there, her back against the tall rusty face of the building. She was still aiming her rifle at the fading Thrall as they began to leave, and she found humor in her chance to tag the last one with several shells before it too vanished.  
Both strangers then dropped from the roof of the building and walked to her, shouldering their weapons. Nga’am recovered, standing and giving herself a quick dusting.     “Much appreciated,” she said.  
    “Whoa!” said the Titan, removing her helmet and walking over to where the smashed exoskeleton of Ngh’am’s sparrow lay all but buried upon the wizened Earth soil.        “Is that an S-10 model?”  
    “Ahh, it _was_ ,” replied the warlock.  
    “Okay, you seriously need an upgrade!” the Titan responded.  
    “You don’t say.”  
    “No, I mean. You have to get one now, of course ‘cause this one’s like totaled, but I’m saying like before this. You totally could have used an upgrade. S-11 Class A, minimum. Even an S-21 Seeker would have been all right, but these things are like way antiquated.”  
    “Rijah,” the hunter said tersely, cutting her off. The Titan silenced herself and looked over at him, her metallic eyes glinting at him. A mauve mohawk of hair curved around her bald head. She had a wild look about her - one which Nga’am read as fearless and blithely destructive. That married with the hunter’s patience and stealth, she could see that they were probably a pretty good team.  
    Satisfied, the hunter regarded the warlock and nodded. “Ned,” he said. “This is Rijah.” The Titan waved madly for a half second then dropped her arms again. “Glad we found you when we did. We figured you ~”  
    “Totally saw the money shot from the across the grounds,” Rijah said still looking at the wreckage of the sparrow. “Epic! Need to take a look at your ‘snifle’ when we get back to the Tower.”

  
    “Snifle?” Nga’am questioned, tilting her head.  
    “Yep,” the Titan responded. “Sniper rifle…snifle.”  
    Ned looked back at her almost exasperated. “What I was saying was, after we saw them coming for you, we wanted to simply make sure you were safe, so we followed.”  
    “I’m glad you did. I may not have been around much longer if you didn’t.  
    “Specially not with this thing,” the Titan said pointing downward with two index fingers at the pile of metal scrap and hard plastic in the dirt. “Ho-Ly BALLS! Seriously though, upgrade next time.”  
    “Rija,” Ned again spoke up, his voice more raised this time and again the Titan quieted. “Thanks. I’m Nga’am, by the way.”  
    “We could use your shot on our Fireteam,” Ned said. “It always seems to be the snipers on the other side who keep us from getting things done as efficiently as they could be.”  
    Nga’am regarded the duo and considered. The hunter  
    “Well, look at me - all without words.”  
    “Or a bike,” Rijah said.  
    “Rijah, that’s enough,” Ned said, turning back.  
    “Just sayin’,” she said donning her helmet again. The Titan began to dance to the tune of unheard music.  
    Ned closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Continue, please. Will you join us?”

    “The last time I was on a Fireteam, my teammates left me stranded in a Vex ridden hole on Venus. Their attempt at saving me was…let’s just say other-than-heroic. I’m a bit timid on the whole ‘all-for-one’ thing, Ned.”  
    “Look, if it helps, I don’t think you’re the only one who feels put out or mistrustful of teammates. Real teams take time. For now, what do you say we get back to the Tower and I talk to my people in Dead Orbit about bringing you on?”  
    There was a roll of thunder then which emanated from behind the warlock in the far reaches of the Cosmodrome. The three of them looked up to see three more Fallen transport ships racing into Earth’s atmosphere and hovering there to drop off another load of the soon-to-be-dead.  
    Ned grabbed for the shotgun which was strapped to his leg. “It’s gonna get ugly around here, warlock. Real ugly, real quick. Come with us,” he held out his white-gloved hand.  
    Nga’am looked at him, then to Rijah who had stopped dancing and held up a ‘thumbs up’ sign. Back to Ned she looked, and nodded.  
    She grabbed his hand firmly. “Done,” she said.  
“Woo Hoo!” Rijah threw two hands up in a victory. “Hell yeah. You know what this means don’t you?” She came over and threw a heavy-armored arm across the warlock’s back.  
    “Yeah,” said Nga’am as Ned tossed his ghost into the air. “It means I can upgrade.  
    The trio dissipated as more Fallen and Taken poured into desert lot of the tall rusty building. They gathered first around the shattered body of an antiquated Sparrow.


End file.
